Media’s Depiction of the Black Lives Matter Activism

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a modern activist movement against state sanctioned violence towards black people. The movement has created many varying opinions, receiving plenty of news coverage. Some argue that mainstream media does not accurately depict or represent the goals of the movement which are hoping to restore freedom and justice for Black people and, by extension all people, as well as to acknowledge, respect and celebrate differences. For this study, we will analyze multiple articles from MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, Huffington Post, and The New York Times from October 2015 to February 2016. We analyze print news, and our initial findings show that there are conflicting accounts of the BLM movement. We find that the misleading depiction and language used within this media furthers misunderstandings. This movement requires critical analysis due to it complexity, allowing for other perspectives and voices to be acknowledged properly. The language writers use influence consumers\u27 opinions of the BLM movement. This research will allow us to better understand how the media depicts and portrays the BLM movement